New Delhi: A new antibiotic pill may offer a breakthrough in the fight against drug-resistant gonorrhoea, according to a Phase 3 trial published in The Lancet and presented at the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) conference in Austria.
Gonorrhoea, a common sexually transmitted infection (STI), has seen a troubling rise in cases resistant to standard treatments in recent years. Left untreated, the infection can lead to severe health issues, particularly for women, including infertility and increased risk of ectopic pregnancy.
The new oral treatment, gepotidacin, developed by British pharmaceutical company GSK, has already been approved for urinary tract infections and is now being evaluated as a potential solution for antibiotic-resistant gonorrhoea. In the Phase 3 trial involving 622 participants, researchers from the US, UK, and Australia found gepotidacin to be as effective as the current standard therapy — a combination of injectable ceftriaxone and oral azithromycin — in treating uncomplicated gonorrhoea.
Crucially, gepotidacin was effective against strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae that have developed resistance to existing antibiotics. The study found no severe treatment-related side effects, and researchers noted that an oral-only regimen could enhance patient comfort while reducing the burden on healthcare systems.
“Gepotidacin’s success in this trial is a significant step forward,” said researchers from the University of Birmingham and University of Sydney, among others. “It provides an alternative to current treatments, particularly as resistance to standard antibiotics continues to rise.”
Despite the promising findings, the researchers acknowledged some limitations. The study primarily addressed urogenital gonorrhoea, with most participants being white men. They emphasized the need for further research on the pill’s efficacy in treating rectal and throat infections, as well as its impact across diverse populations, including women, adolescents, and people of various ethnic backgrounds.
If future studies confirm its broader effectiveness, gepotidacin could become the first new antibiotic for gonorrhoea since the 1990s, offering a much-needed tool in the global battle against antimicrobial resistance.
